1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the general art of firearms, and to the particular field of accessories for firearms.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Target shooting as well as hunting is an extremely popular sport for both men and women. Shooting contests are held nearly every weekend in many areas of the country. It is well known that hunting is one of the most popular sports in the United States. Accordingly, the firearm art includes a multitude of accessories intended to make shooting more accurate and efficient.
A sighting scope is one of the more popular accessories in the area of firearms. A sighting scope makes aiming a firearm, especially at a distant target, more accurate and efficient. Therefore, the art contains many examples of sighting scopes for use with firearms.
However, the sighting scopes presently available require a shooter to use the eye on the side of his or her head that corresponds to the side of the shooter""s body on which the firearm is supported. Thus, a right-handed shooter will use one eye to sight through a scope, and a left-handed shooter will use the other eye.
This works well . . . until the shooter is required to use the eye other than the one he or she is used to. This requirement may result from some physical impairment that reduces or eliminates the use of the eye that the shooter has used and is used to using. This can be caused by an accident or the like that makes a heretofore useful eye either useless or have diminished capability. In such an instance, the shooter may have to re-learn to shoot or give up shooting altogether. Thus, for example, if a right-handed shooter loses the use of the eye he or she has been using, or that eye becomes impaired, the shooter will either have to learn to shoot left-handed or give up the sport.
Some scopes have very high magnification capabilities; however, this will only work if the shooter""s eye needs only increased magnification to work. It will not work if the shooter has lost use of his or her shooting eye.
It would be helpful if the shooter could simply change shooting eyes without re-learning shooting technique.
Therefore, there is a need for an accessory for a firearm that will permit a shooter to use an eye on one side of his or her body while holding the firearm on the other side of his or her body.
The same situation exists if the shooter has lost all or part of the use of one side of his or her body. For example, if a right-handed shooter, for some reason, loses full use of his or her arms or hands that are used in the right-handed shooting technique, the shooter will have to re-learn shooting technique to use the other eye if he or she has to shoot left-handed instead of right-handed. Again, it would be helpful if the shooter could simply use the eye he or she was used to using even if he or she must learn to hold the firearm on the opposite side of his or her body that he or she is used to.
Therefore, there is a need for an accessory for a firearm that will enable a shooter to use his or her dominant eye even if he or she has lost part or all of the use of one side of his or her body with respect to shooting a firearm.
Therefore, in general, there is a need for an accessory for a firearm that will permit a shooter to continue shooting without re-learning all of his or her shooting technique if he or she loses part or all of the function of one side of his or her body.
Specifically, there is a need for an accessory for a firearm sighting scope that will re-direct a sighting light ray from one eye of a shooter to the other eye of the shooter.
It is a main object of the present invention to provide an accessory for a firearm that will permit a shooter to use an eye on one side of his or her body while holding the firearm on the other side of his or her body.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an accessory for a firearm that will enable a shooter to use his or her dominant eye even if he or she has lost part or all of the use of one side of his or her body with respect to shooting a firearm.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an accessory for a firearm that will permit a shooter to continue shooting without re-learning all of his or her shooting technique if he or she loses part or all of the function of one side of his or her body.
It is a specific object of the present invention to provide an accessory for a firearm sighting scope that will re-direct a sighting light ray from one eye of a shooter to the other eye of the shooter.
These, and other, objects are achieved by an offset unit for use with a firearm sighting scope unit which comprises: a Z-shaped body having a main leg, a first leg and a second leg with the first leg oriented at a right angle to the main leg, the second leg oriented at a right angle to the main leg and parallel to the first leg; a scope eyepiece connection on a first end of the first leg of the Z-shaped body; an ocular lens on a second end of the second leg of the Z-shaped body; a first mirror located at an Intersection between the main leg and the first leg of the Z-shaped body and which is positioned to reflect light exiting an ocular lens in an eyepiece of a firearm sighting scope, the light reflected by the first mirror being oriented at a right angle to the light exiting the eyepiece of the firearm sighting scope; a second mirror located at an intersection between the main leg and the second leg of the Z-shaped body and which is positioned to reflect light reflected by the first mirror, the light reflected by the second mirror being oriented at a right angle to the light reflected by the first mirror and parallel to the light exiting the eyepiece of the firearm sighting scope, the light reflected by the second mirror being directed to the ocular lens. A light path is defined through the Z-shaped body which includes a first portion extending from the scope eyepiece connection through the first leg of the Z-shaped body to the first mirror in the direction of light exiting the ocular lens in the eyepiece of the firearm sighting scope, a second portion extending from the first mirror to the second mirror through the main leg of the Z-shaped body, the second portion of the light path being oriented at a right angle to the first portion of the light path, and a third portion extending from the second mirror through the second leg to the ocular lens, the third portion of the light path being oriented at a right angle to the second portion of the light path and parallel to the first portion of the light path.
The offset unit embodying the present invention thus permits a person to position a firearm on one side of his or her body while using the eye on the other side of his or her body to sight the firearm. Thus, a person who has lost part or all of the sight of one eye can use the other eye for shooting and does not have to re-learn shooting technique. The same applies for loss or partial loss of one side of the shooter""s body. That person can still use a dominant eye without re-learning this portion of the shooting technique.